Like Deck Chairs on the Titanic: Why Spectrum Reallocation Won’t Avert the Coming Data Crunch but Technology Might Keep the Wireless Industry Afloat

15 Pages Posted: 24 Aug 2011 Last revised: 3 Jan 2013

See all articles by Brian J. Love

Brian J. Love

Santa Clara University - School of Law

David J. Love

Purdue University - School of Electrical and Computer Engineering

James V. Krogmeier

School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University

Date Written: February 4, 2012

Abstract

Skyrocketing mobile data demands caused by increasing adoption of smartphones, tablet computers, and broadband-equipped laptops will soon swamp the capacity of our nation’s wireless networks, a fact that promises to stagnate a $1 trillion slice on the nation’s economy. Among scholars and policymakers studying this looming “spectrum crisis,” consensus is developing that regulators must swiftly reclaim spectrum licensed to other industries and reallocate those rights to wireless providers. In this interdisciplinary piece, we explain in succinct terms why this consensus is wrong. With data demands increasing at an exponential rate, spectrum reallocation plans that promise only linear growth are destined to fail. What regulators should focus on, instead, are policies that encourage the sluggish incumbents presently dominating the wireless industry to roll out new networking technologies (like tiered network architectures, cognitive radio, and multicell MIMO) that could allow exponential increases in spectral efficiency.

Keywords: telecommunications, spectrum crunch, spectrum crisis, spectrum famine, spectrum policy, National Broadband Plan, AT&T, Verizon

JEL Classification: K23, L13, L96

Suggested Citation

Love, Brian J. and Love, David J. and Krogmeier, James V., Like Deck Chairs on the Titanic: Why Spectrum Reallocation Won’t Avert the Coming Data Crunch but Technology Might Keep the Wireless Industry Afloat (February 4, 2012). Washington University Law Review, Vol. 89, p. 705, 2012, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1914058

Brian J. Love (Contact Author)

Santa Clara University - School of Law ( email )

500 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA 95053
United States

David J. Love

Purdue University - School of Electrical and Computer Engineering ( email )

School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN 47907
United States

James V. Krogmeier

School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University ( email )

School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN 47907
United States

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